Former sheriff serves 17 days for sex-for-meth conviction

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Hendrik Sybrandy | FOX31 Denver

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. -- Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan was released from the detention facility that was once named for him early Saturday morning, after spending 17 days behind bars.

Former Sheriff Sullivan found himself back in the headlines last November when he was arrested at an Aurora house during an undercover sting.

On surveillance video, an informant pulls what appears to be methamphetamine out of a bag. Sullivan lies down on a bed and begins watching pornography on a DVD player, and then takes off his clothes.

Soon afterwards, police break into the room, pin Sullivan to the bed and arrest him. On April 4, as part of a plea bargain, Sullivan was sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of meth and soliciting for prostitution.

"I apologize to the court, this community and my family," he said that day. "There is no excuse for my behavior."

Sullivan was Arapahoe County Sheriff for 18 years before retiring in 2002.

He became famous in 1989 when he drove a jeep through the fence of a home to rescue two deputies and a teenager who'd been taken hostage by a murder suspect.

Now, 23 years later and after five very difficult months, the 69-year-old Sullivan now begins life anew.